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The post-war economy was a comparatively wonderful place. As a business, all you had to do was identify the core competencies of your organisation and aim to make those as efficient as possible in order to exploit your comparative advantage. Just set your direction, keep a firm hand on the wheel, and you’d slowly but surely grow your market and increase your margins.
There once was a time when all you needed to do to shoot up the ranks was stick around. Loyal service was rewarded with occasional pay rises, and on the job experience was more than enough for an eventual promotion. All you had to do was show up, do the work, and you were on the escalator to the top.
It’s often been said, that people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. That’s been proven by a recent survey which showed 34% of employees attributed their decision to leave a company directly to their manager or leadership.
Getting ahead in your career takes equal measures of patience, persistence, and planning. Whether you’re after a payrise, a promotion or an opportunity to simply get your foot in the door of a new industry, it’s important to have a vision of where you’re going, and how you’ll get there. In today’s hypercompetitive job market, you need to find any edge you can, which is why formal professional development programs are so incredibly valuable.
Crises happen at work. AIM facilitator Sarb Chowdry shares 5 tips on how to respond, not react.
Ever find yourself in a stressful situation at work?
Perhaps you’re dealing with an overwhelming workload and unexpected demands on your time and energy. Perhaps it’s the sight or sound of your manager. Maybe it’s the number of unread work related emails or the subject line of a particular email. Or just thoughts of that difficult colleague or customer.
In these situations, it is important to understand the difference between being reactive or responsive.
Discovering your new purpose with your employees takes time and effort but can be very invigorating, unifying and rewarding. Let’s consider the example of McDonald’s. Over the years, we have seen a shift in purpose from a standard menu to a range that offers healthy alternatives and the customisable “Create Your Taste” option.
The verdict is in: companies need to get much better at cultivating people leaders.
It’s as simple as this – keeping great staff is a challenge for many organisations. But does it come down to quality leadership, or is there more to it?
Firebrand Talent surveyed 1,225 working employees around Australia (NSW, VIC, WA, QLD, SA) for their Talent Ignition Report and asked about their job role, skill development, career development and progression.*
As a business leader, it’s always tricky to determine the best possible use of your organisation’s resources. While the economy around you fluctuates and shifts, you’re likely juggling the competing demands for greater efficiency, boosted productivity and continuous innovation. Achieving your strategic organisational objectives can often be extraordinarily difficult when you’re dealing with near-constant marketplace disruption and the inherent internal obstacles of any organisation.
A powerful presentation is our most critical tool in an organisation today. We use them to build buy-in with our team members, to communicate our big ideas and connect with employees to inspire them into action. Yet the majority of the time our presentations are bland, boring and the only impact they have is to get staff running for the doors (if they haven’t already fallen asleep in their seats).
As companies strive to keep up with innovation, Design Thinking can’t be missed.
Andy Eklund is a facilitator at the Australian Institute of Management. He’s spent 35,000 hours facilitating 6,500 workshops for 11,000 participants in 24 countries on 5 continents. That’s ore 700 different clients in 75 different industries.